Getting the Hang of It

We tried to truly take advantage of the nice weather and local goings-on in town this weekend. It is so much easier now that the girls are much bigger. I remember how much planning and effort were involved when I was alone with Chiara and Ines in France when they were little. There were cobblestone streets to navigate with a stroller and naps to consider. There was also the lack of diaper changing station situation in public bathrooms that I had to contend with. Often, I just opted not to go out with the girls. There was just too much planning. The bad side was that not going out just increased my sense of frustration and feeling of helplessness.

So here’s what we did this weekend. I wanted to keep some semblance of our lives in the US so I told the girls we would go out to dinner on Friday night, which back home is our take-out night (aka Mommy does not cook on Fridays). We went to a local restaurant in town that I’ve been wanting try.

Then, on Saturday, we went to a book signing by French actor turned writer, Philippe Torreton. Philippe just came out with a book called “Mémé” (one of the many ways to say Grandmother in French) as an homage to his own grandmother and his memories of childhood in Normandy.

Then, the girls had their riding lessons on Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday, we went to the beach in Deauville where I spent part of Sunday re-reading the late Ann Barry’s book “At Home in France.” A former New York Times andNew Yorker editor, Ann was a single woman who decided to buy a small house in the Lot region in France. Her courage, adventures and mishaps during her yearly visits to her house in France just inspire me to try more things while we’re here despite the language and cultural differences. After all, it’s in making those language and cultural mistakes that we learn best, n’est-ce pas?